Bought a new Becker...

Codger_64

Codger_64

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Well not new. New to me. I had put off buying a BK&T during the late unpleasantness mostly because I was under the impression that Ethan wasn't getting his royalties on the knives being sold with his name and designs. Yes I know, a futile gesture at best, but a gesture I felt was due him. And with all the other Camillus knives I did buy, I doubt my reluctance to buy the BK&T knives made any difference in the final outcome.

A couple of days ago a fellow BF forum member offered me a reasonable deal on his lightly used Becker Necker knife and, odd in this day and time but not so with most people on this forum, money was mailed and knife was shipped the same day, possibly crossing paths somewhere in Kansas or Nebraska.

Now I have said in a couple of posts in the W&SS forum here that I will not wear anything around my neck. Old training and old habits die hard. However I will carry and use this knife in a belt sheath this fall and see for myself what the hubub is all about. I also intend to get one of the first new KaBar BK&T production models of this same knife to compare and contrast. Hopefully I can arrange to get one before our deer season ends this winter since that is my primary use for fixed blades. Last year I skinned and dressed twelve deer on my gambrel. This year our "zone" has changed and we are allowed three deer a day. For me at least, this should be a pretty fair test of the knives and my ability to use them to best advantage. Archery deer season is open so the older Camillus Becker Necker with be used first. After several sessions, the differences should be apparent, as well as the similarities.

I'll post impressions, experiences and results as I find them noteworthy. Are there venison recipes in the latest edition of Joy Of Cooking? :D

Codger
 
Codger, I just ordered ten or so of the break-away clasps that folks often use when carrying a neck knife. Boaters (in canoes and kayaks especially) have recommended them to me for carrying a knife. Makes the knife accessible, yet keeps it from being a strangling hazard.

According to the description, they are "breakaway clasps for lanyards, nursing necklaces, pet collars or any other necklace that needs to be able to break open when sufficient pressure is applied. These pop open with about 5 pounds of pressure and then can be re-closed."

Of course this means that the knife pull has to be less than 5 pounds of pressure. If the sheath is really tight, the clasp and lanyard might not work. I'm still going to give them a try.

If you want to buck your old training and give one a shot, just shoot me your address.
 
Ohhh... but I do appreciate the offer but I am just an old codger and it would bug the everliving hades out of me til I snatched it off and stuffed it in my pocket! :D Thanks, but I'll sheath it on the belt. Somewhere in these boxes of sheaths I have a fitter for it, I betcha. I bought a group of Schrade Safe-T-Grip nylon sheath rejects that need a purpose in life. Have you used the necker as a skinner?

Codger
 
Codger_64 said:
Have you used the necker as a skinner?
Codger
Click to expand...

I have not. I've only carried mine as a backup blade. The blade shape is certainly suitable, and with a cord wrap on the handle, it ought to be a pretty good skinner.
 
Have any of you really used a Necker as a main outdoors knife? Ethan or Phil?

I guess this is as good of a time and place as any to renew your/my/our acquaintence with this knife. I'll look up the pattern in my Camillus catalogs and flyers and see what information the company published about them. Anyone have a clue as to the total production numbers? Special stories relating to development, production, or use? Oddities that have shown up, or any sfo use?

Codger
 
Hey Codger ....

There is an insert that was supposed to come with your BK-11 NECKER....if it does not show up with your knif I will be happty to send you a copy....I try to identify all the design influences I can remember to give some idea of what I was thinking(if that is the word)at the time... I heard a definition of editing the other day that fits how you must think about small knife design....COMPRESSION...how much will that little bag hold??....The little ones MAKE you think....

All Best

ethan
 
I see the Necker listed in the 2005 Camillus catalog, pages 12-13 with the header “Camillus re-introduced Becker Knife & Tool”.

These ultra-rugged survival knives feature devastating cutting power - proven in the world’s most challenging environments. Each features an incredibly sharp blade and the most comfortable hard-use handle in the world.

All feature:
Exclusive high carbon steel (0170-6C) flat ground blade
58-59 RC blade hardness
Black epoxy Coating
Becker trademark GV6H handles
Kydex ® multi-carry sheath system
Proudly made in the U.S.A.


The Necker itself isn’t illustrated on these pages with the six BK&T knives, just listed in the sidebar. Specs on the BK11 are listed as:

3.25” length blade
.150 blade thickness
0170-6C Carbon Steel
Black Epoxy Powdercoat

Now a few questions from an ol codger:

“multi-carry sheath”… this sounds like it might be readily adaptable to belt carry. Right or wrong?

“Black Epoxy Coating”… the knife I have coming has had the coating removed. I’ve done this same thing to several of my Schrades. I know it is a popular finish with most modern buyers/users, but is the 0170-6C steel any more or less susceptible to corrosion than my favorite 1095HC steel, or is/was it just an appearance feature? I’ve never found any real problem with my 1095 knives when properly cared for, even my favorite for more than thirty years. But the manufacturer, ISC admitted an abnormal rise in returns for "stains", as the patina was called by dissatisfied users.

Codger

Edit: I also have an undated flyer, 11"x4 1/4" that unfolds like a map into six two-sided panels, Robo Assist on the cover. It adds the MSRP of the BK11 at that time of $51.95. I realize why Camillus left catalogs and brochures undated was to allow their use for more than one model year, but can you date this one for me?
 
Codger_64 said:
Well not new. New to me. I had put off buying a BK&T during the late unpleasantness mostly because I was under the impression that Ethan wasn't getting his royalties on the knives being sold with his name and designs. Yes I know, a futile gesture at best, but a gesture I felt was due him. And with all the other Camillus knives I did buy, I doubt my reluctance to buy the BK&T knives made any difference in the final outcome.

A couple of days ago a fellow BF forum member offered me a reasonable deal on his lightly used Becker Necker knife and, odd in this day and time but not so with most people on this forum, money was mailed and knife was shipped the same day, possibly crossing paths somewhere in Kansas or Nebraska.

Now I have said in a couple of posts in the W&SS forum here that I will not wear anything around my neck. Old training and old habits die hard. However I will carry and use this knife in a belt sheath this fall and see for myself what the hubub is all about. I also intend to get one of the first new KaBar BK&T production models of this same knife to compare and contrast. Hopefully I can arrange to get one before our deer season ends this winter since that is my primary use for fixed blades. Last year I skinned and dressed twelve deer on my gambrel. This year our "zone" has changed and we are allowed three deer a day. For me at least, this should be a pretty fair test of the knives and my ability to use them to best advantage. Archery deer season is open so the older Camillus Becker Necker with be used first. After several sessions, the differences should be apparent, as well as the similarities.

I'll post impressions, experiences and results as I find them noteworthy. Are there venison recipes in the latest edition of Joy Of Cooking? :D

Codger
Click to expand...

You're disproving that old saw about "Old dogs ... ". Maybe I should learn from your example (being an Old Dog myself) and pick one up. However, I believe I'll wait for one of Ethan's newest out of Ka-Bar -- just as a gesture of respect and support.

Plus, I'm pretty sure Guyon has all the rest ...

If you can't find venison recipes in JoC, let me know. My Mrs. has hundreds of cookbooks ...
 
O.P., I even went so far as to buy the late-great-Schrade's "space debris", as I call their last modernistic efforts. Do I prefer and use them? No. But I had to see what was what with them.

As to the Beckers, don't look for me to outdo our friend Guyon's efforts. I just want to compare the Camillus rendition with the new ones. And yes, I admit I may even fall in... like with the Necker. Just don't expect me to start chopping concrete blocks and beating logs with them. That isn't how my Granpa taught me to treat a knife. Now skinning and butchering a deer, chickens, calf, turkeys and fish is a whole other ballgame.

I kinda, sorta, halfway suspect that the Schrade X-Timers were meant to compete in the niche that Ethan, if not developed then fueled with his BK&T knives. I do have a full set of those to compare and contrast as time goes by.

I have favorite ways to cook my venison, but I thought that perhaps an outdoorsman-knifemaker/designer like Ethan might have a new twist on an old idea. Venison gumbo anyone?

Coger
 
Codger_64 said:
O.P., I even went so far as to buy the late-great-Schrade's "space debris", as I call their last modernistic efforts. Do I prefer and use them? No. But I had to see what was what with them.

As to the Beckers, don't look for me to outdo our friend Guyon's efforts. I just want to compare the Camillus rendition with the new ones. And yes, I admit I may even fall in... like with the Necker. Just don't expect me to start chopping concrete blocks and beating logs with them. That isn't how my Granpa taught me to treat a knife. Now skinning and butchering a deer, chickens, calf, turkeys and fish is a whole other ballgame.

I kinda, sorta, halfway suspect that the Schrade X-Timers were meant to compete in the niche that Ethan, if not developed then fueled with his BK&T knives. I do have a full set of those to compare and contrast as time goes by.

I have favorite ways to cook my venison, but I thought that perhaps an outdoorsman-knifemaker/designer like Ethan might have a new twist on an old idea. Venison gumbo anyone?

Coger
Click to expand...

Venison gumbo sounds pretty good to me! Maybe we can petition Ethan for his special/secret recipes?? Who knows what he has in his back-office files?

I, too, haven't been able to convince myself to smash bricks with knives. I do use them as choppers -- well, the ones (Busses/Swamprats/Scrapyards/ Beckers/Kukris) that were actually designed as choppers. I try to keep up with the times, but my heart was 'built' a long time ago ... :cool:
 
Guyon.... I tried to catch him in numbers, but the big collaspe came before I could.
I managed a measly 20 to his 40 ..... wait.... I mean 39........
If a BK2 is ever made in an 8 inch version, with the BK5 grind, I will be a happy camper.
 
Mountainwind said:
Guyon.... I tried to catch him in numbers, but the big collaspe came before I could.
I managed a measly 20 to his 40 ..... wait.... I mean 39........
If a BK2 is ever made in an 8 inch version, with the BK5 grind, I will be a happy camper.
Click to expand...

I only owned a BK-7 and a BK-9 before the warning bells at Camillus went off. I was pretty diligent thereafter, however, in finding deals on Beckers, some of them in some strange ways and places.
 
Guyon said:
I only owned a BK-7 and a BK-9 before the warning bells at Camillus went off. I was pretty diligent thereafter, however, in finding deals on Beckers, some of them in some strange ways and places.
Click to expand...

indeed, most of my beckers were all the old ones except for a magnum camp and a couple campanions, and i grabbed a couple neckers for a song ($15 each at the time).

figured i'd get at least a couple of the newer patterns as users, and managed some terrific deals shopping around. most under $80-90. hunting :>

then guyon shows up, and things started happening with finding some good old stuff, and new stuff. we ended up in the same places too, but he was WAY more crafty in building up his collection. i was mostly after the old stuff as well.

still don't have an EXTREME and there are a few patterns i don't have, but that's okay. never got excited about that exotic alloy, and i'm sure one will come to me sooner or later.

i have my babies, and some users, and i expect (sorry ethan :>) the prices on the camillus market to fall to the floor in a few months to a year once k'bar does there thing - true collectors buy, users are fickle, and some just won't want them once the value drops. $20 for a brute? i'm there :)

there's something very special about the pre-camillus blades. very special. those are sooooo lovely. the camillus ones are that carbon-v magic and will have decades of use. excellent tools all.

bladite
 
I could never get used to carrying a neck knife, but would sometimes carry a small one. When i purchased my necker it was just to have it in my becker collection but i found it so useful that it is my daily and most used knife! It goes around my neck before my pants go on in the morning and is the last thing to come off at bedtime... I use it everyday in the kitchen as well as for camp chores and fishing and hunting which by the way skins a buck just fine but having large hands i do better wrapping with the strider type wrap before skinning. I removed the black coating from the blade and it now looks like my old schrades...you know the look...smooth worn steel with a dark patina. It was a bad idea though to remove the coating due to wearing it around the neck! the tang requires constant cleaning where "belly sweat" attacks it. As i said i never dreamed that this would become the most used knife i owned and didn't even think it would see as much use as my other beckers... I hope i never lose it! I doubt the Ka-Bars will hold an edge as well as this renamed carbon v stuff, then again i can cut anything with my schrades and never complain and they dont hold an edge as long as the alloy steel in these beckers.
 
And not mine this time. I gutted, skinned and butchered a deer with it tonight. I was pleased with how the shape worked. I peeled the tenderloins out and disjointed the hams, carved off the shoulders with ease. I just have to keep reminding myself not to choke up on the blade too much. Tactile memory comes slow to us older gents.

And not surprisingly, it is as sharp now as when I began. No nicks, edge rolling or dulling whatsoever. Yeah, it is a keeper. Now, if I just had the new generation BK&T Necker to compare (hint...hint).

Thankyou Ethan for a good design. And thankyou Camillus workers for good execution of that design.

Codger :thumbup:
 
Hey codger try wrapping it the way the striders are wrapped, it's an incredibly thick and comfortable wrap when using it to butcher and it keeps you from choking up.
 
I had a wrap on it until I got ready to work on the deer. I took it off to make it easier to clean afterward. Blood and guts are hard to rinse out of paracord. I am still considering adding thin scales.

Codger
 
Another good handle i made for mine was heavy strap leather (full grain up) heavily treated with snow seal. with screw type rivets i can change them as often as i need to or want to,but these days i just use a simple light wrap.
 
A third deer was skinned, quartered and butchered with the Necker last night. I am beginning to get used to the feel of the handle. And the knife is still sharp with only a light stropping between uses.

Codger
 
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